Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

I finally got my hands on one of these!

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception is a suspenseful adventure of love, friendship, and faerie. Its story has a uniqueness that compels you to read further. And the author's ability to incorporate musical pieces in the writing is marvelous, because it adds to the story and was relevant at times. Great job Maggie!

I still can't get over the fact of how different this story is. It may seem like just another Faerie novel, but its not. Creativity is shown superbly throughout the book, such as the reappearing clovers or the smell of thyme.

And the complicated story of Deirdre and Luke. That's just an addition to the tale. Most of the time, I didn't know whether I should trust Luke or not. During Dee's conversations with her grandmother I was convinced he was evil, but when Dee was with him, I could see nothing wrong, till Deirdre made an earth shattering discovery about him.

I was very happy to see Luke's situation end the way it did, but it left me a little confused. Was Deirdre aloud to have a relationship with one of the Daoine Sidhe, when her role in the Faerie realm was so high? And would their relationship even continue? But no worries, I'm certain my questions will be answered in Ballad, the sequel the Lament, out Fall 2009.

Ratings

Writing: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 5/5